solid rock pix

I'm a freelance photographer in Durham, NC. Photography is more than my job. Its a tool, a release, and my passion.
• Photos on these pages may not be reproduced without permission.
• All photos copyright Mark Dolejs unless otherwise noted

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

During the three years that I was unemployed I had the opportunity to join with the fine folks at Hidden Voices to work on a pretty cool portrait project. Once a year, at Project Homeless Connect in Orange County, Hidden Voices had a booth set up and we would provide photo portraits of the homeless and less fortunate members of our community.

This was a great project that I really enjoyed doing each year. I found it very rewarding to be able to put a smile on the faces of some whom didn’t seem to have much to smile about. I remember distinctly one gentleman telling me that he had not seen his mother in ten years and would love to send her a picture of himself. Some of the pictures that I made were of moms and their young children, many of which who had not had any professional pictures taken since the tots were born.

Since I went back to work again fulltime a couple of years ago, I haven’t been able to work with Hidden Voices during the Project Homeless Connect event each October. So, this year, I sent a note to my buddy Jock Lauterer, the master of community journalism at UNC-CH. I wanted to continue this fine tradition of providing this service during this year’s event in Durham. So, I am partnering with the Durham Voice and will be at this year’s event on Friday, Oct. 10.

The Durham Voice is a community based newspaper and online project that involves journalism students from both N.C. Central University and UNC-Chapel Hill. The Voice mainly covers Northeast Central Durham, but also covers social issues that effect us all. I will be working with the students, who will do the photography and collect short narratives from the people photographed with the results running as a photo essay in the Voice. I am really excited to see us not only provide a service during the event, but also be able to take it to the next level. Can’t wait!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

I have been thinking a lot lately about people who have had
an impact on my life. There are way to many to name them all, but I think I
will talk about a couple of them.

Kayla Paige Radack. I never met Kayla, but I think about her
nearly every day. At age 16, Kayla tragically lost her life in a car accident
right in front of the neighborhood where I live. There is a memorial erected
where the accident took place, and I pass by it every single day. When I see
the wooden cross, I think about the accident. I was not working on the day she
died, but I happened by the accident shortly after it happened and grabbed my
camera and took several photos before realizing how serious the injuries were.
The accident didn’t have an immediate impact on me, but when I was assigned to
photograph student reaction at her school, I was touched by her friends who
mourned in the school parking lot around her assigned parking space. I remember
candles and I remember hugs… many hugs and tears. I also think of Kayla’s
brother Kyle as I photographed him on the side of the road mourning at the
accident site. This was not an easy picture to take, as a matter of fact it was
quite hard to photograph him as he pulled his shirt up to his face wiping his
tears. Even harder was the task to have to approach him to find out who he was.

Now, this post isn’t about how hard it is to photograph
situations that no one wants to ever have to witness in their lifetime. The
point is that Kayla has had an impact on my life even though I never met her.
But, I’m not the only person she has had an impact on. Many, many people are impacted each year by Kayla. Most of
them never met Kayla. Her family and friends started something called Kayla’s
Closet, a place where girls in need can come and pick out a prom dress for
FREE. What a cool idea and a great way to pass along Kayla's giving spirit. I know there are many many young women who have been
impacted by Kayla through this awesome endeavor. There is also an endowed
scholarship in Kayla’s name. And I was recently reminded yet again about the
special qualities Kayla possessed. I listened to her name announced and the
award given in her honor during the annual awards banquet for the Riverside
Lacrosse team. Her commitment to the lacrosse team, where she volunteered as
the lead statistician, is honored every year with an award given to a player
with similar qualities.

Phillip Garrett. Phillip was several years younger then me
when he decided to take his own life. It was the year after I graduated high
school and I was working at High Point Photo Supply. I remember getting the
call from my mom while I was at work. She told me the news. I was numb. To this
day I have never been able to understand why he took his life. At the time, it
seemed Phillip had a pretty good life. I don’t know what went wrong. I wish I
had noticed. I wish I had been able to ask him the question that has burned in
my brain for almost 30 years. I wish I could have asked him back then how I
could help. I wish I could have had an impact on Phillip and that he was still
with us today. Phillip has had a huge impact on me for the last 30 years.

I have been wanting to write this post for several weeks
now. Its ironic that I finally got around to it on the three year anniversary
of the day my friend David Turner left his tired and diseased body behind to
join his Savior in Heaven. I only knew David for a few months. David and I
became friends while I was documenting his life as he lived with stage IV
lymphoma. I almost used the word “struggled” with lymphoma. But, for Big Dave,
if he was struggling, he tried not to show it. David was strong. Not super
human strong, but strong in spirit. You see, even though David knew he was
going to die from the cancer that had taken over his body, he was fine with
that fact. David knew he had a purpose here on Earth. He told me so. In his
last couple of months, in his last couple of weeks, David started a web site
and started what is now referred to as Big Dave’s Big Gift, or the David Turner
Lymphoma Foundation. David wanted to help families with kids in a similar situation
to his own. David selflessly spent a great deal of time, even while he was in
hospice, making sure what he was starting would be carried on after he was
gone. David was only 25 years old. David has had a huge impact on my life. So
much so, that we now both have the same tattoo on our left wrists, “V:III”. Romans
5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but wealso
rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and
character, hope.” I thank God for David’s perseverance, his character and the
hope he displayed every day.

Here is my hope and my challenge to
you, each and every one of you that read this. IMPACT. Have an impact on
someone else’s life. There are so many things you can do to make a difference
in this world. But, most importantly, do NOT wait to make a difference.
Dedicate yourself now to helping others, sharing your skills or just being a
friend to that person that looks like they could use a friend. There are so
many ways you can have an impact on others. Use your time wisely. Make a
difference.

I really wish I had the opportunity
to meet Kayla, and even though I only knew David for a few months, it feels
like a lifetime. And though Phillip has had an impact on my life, I wish I
could roll back the clock and have an impact on his.

Friday, April 13, 2012

These were taken in Barnard. Its a quiet place located on the banks of the French Broad River just upstream from Hot Springs. Not much to see in Barnard, the main area of interest is that there is a nice put-in for rafters and kayakers. Like the two previous posts, these photos were made in October on our way back from camping. We stopped and talked to a really nice gentleman who was sitting out in front of the building with his dog. After talking to him for a while and getting some history of the place we were unable to convince him to let us photograph him. I did sneak a picture of him when it started raining and he scrambled to put away his small tractor that he painted to look like a John Deere. He seemed to take a lot of pride in his tractor and a riding lawn mower that he had fixed up with some interesting attachments. I liked both the bowling trophy topper and the safety tips on the antlers that he mounted to the front of the mower. This was a great trip!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

This is the second post from my October trip to the mountains with an old friend and hiking buddy. When we got back to the car it was still raining, but not very hard at that point. We decided to cruise the back roads looking for interesting photo subjects and fall color. These pictures, simply put, are fall color in the NC mountains near Hot Springs. I think the rain actually added to the color saturation. Oh ya, the pic of the turkeys was made as they ran through the valley just below where we were taking pictures of pretty leaves. And this barn was right on the side of the road. It was covered with really cool rusty old license plates. Some of them were pretty darn old!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Back in October and buddy and I finally got together, after months of planning, and hit the trail to do a little backpacking and picture taking in Western North Carolina. We got a pretty late start on hiking, but made it to the top of Max Patch Mountain, a bald, located on the Appalachian Trail. We got our tents set up and made a few pictures before the sun set and the full moon rose. We decided to camp in the woods below the summit since there was a threat of storms coming through the area. This is the same place where a woman died after being struck by lightning 16 months earlier. We set alarms to check out the sunrise, but the clouds decided to make it pretty un-photogenic. Slept in, and then made a few more pictures of the fall color before the rain started. Since there was some thunder accompanying the rain, we took the short way back to the car and explored a couple of nearby areas. Max Patch is an easy trail hike and a must see if you are in a hiking mood and in the Asheville/Hot Springs area. Check it out!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Webster’s defines Guardian Angel as an angel believed to have special care of a particular individual.

I believe I have several guardian angels. You see, the last couple of years, money and gift cards have mysteriously shown up on my door step, both figuratively and literally. I am so blessed to have people looking out for my wellbeing. I just really can’t explain how thankful I am for the wonderful people who have blessed me both by their prayers and financially.

This Christmas we had several guardian angels looking out for us. I hope you are reading this right now and that you know how sincere my gratitude is. One gift was hand delivered on behalf of an anonymous giver. Thank you so much! Another gift I found on the way out the door on Christmas morning. This very generous financial gift was surrounded by a bunch of nuts and candy. I have to say, this was quite a surprise and extremely generous. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I think my guardian angels have been watching for quite a while. A couple of years ago, I racked up a very large medical bill at a local hospital, that I as very worried about how I was going to pay. At first, when the bills stopped coming, I thought the hospital had made a mistake. But, after thinking about it, I think there was an angel who may have paid my bill on my behalf. I don’t know this for sure, but hospitals rarely make mistakes in favor of the patients. So, if you are out there and read this, please know how thankful I am for your help!

After thinking about it, I guess I am a somewhat proud person who doesn’t like to ask for help. When I got laid off from the newspaper in May 2009, it took me a couple of months to start collecting unemployment, partially because I didn’t fully understand the process, but also because I felt like it would be a handout, which I wasn’t interested in. I feel differently now, I understand that in the 25 years I worked previous to that, I earned the right to collect unemployment. I also understand that without it the last two years, my family would not have been able to fully pay bills.

I have been blessed to be able to do a fair amount of freelance photography the last couple of years, which has financially helped out a lot, but still not enough to pay all the bills. I recently just started a part-time job with about 20 hours a week, which will help, but with my unemployment running out in the next couple of weeks, I will be back to square one again, needing a full-time job.

There have been numerous angels who have given us gift cards as well. I even found one under my windshield wiper one year. I don’t know who you angels are, but thank you so much for looking after me and my family. Please know that we are very blessed to be on the receiving end of your generosity.

I wish I had the ability to be able to bless others financially the way I have been blessed. Hopefully one day we will be back in the position to be a guardian angel for someone else, but in the meantime, I know there are many of you out there who are looking after us. Thank you!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

I love this mans voice. This is Big Ron Hunter, whom I had the privilege to photograph during the Warehouse Blues Concert Series last summer. Cool thing is, he will be back for a performance again this summer. You can check him out in Durham Central Park on Friday, July 29, from 6-8pm.